Microsoft Surface Enterprise Management Mode

2017-5-99 minutes to readContributors

In this article

Microsoft Surface Enterprise Management Mode (SEMM) is a feature of Surface devices with Surface UEFI that allows you to secure and manage firmware settings within your organization. With SEMM, IT professionals can prepare configurations of UEFI settings and install them on a Surface device. In addition to the ability to configure UEFI settings, SEMM also uses a certificate to protect the configuration from unauthorized tampering or removal.

Note

SEMM is only available on devices with Surface UEFI firmware, such as Surface Pro 4, Surface Book, and Surface Studio. For more information about Surface UEFI, see Manage Surface UEFI Settings.

When Surface devices are configured by SEMM and secured with the SEMM certificate, they are considered enrolled in SEMM. When the SEMM certificate is removed and control of UEFI settings is returned to the user of the device, the Surface device is considered unenrolled in SEMM.

There are two administrative options you can use to manage SEMM and enrolled Surface devices – a standalone tool or integration with System Center Configuration Manager. The SEMM standalone tool, called the Microsoft Surface UEFI Configurator, is described in this article. For more information about how to manage SEMM with System Center Configuration Manager, see Use System Center Configuration Manager to manage devices with SEMM.

Microsoft Surface UEFI Configurator

The primary workspace of SEMM is Microsoft Surface UEFI Configurator, as shown in Figure 1. Microsoft Surface UEFI Configurator is a tool that is used to create Windows Installer (.msi) packages that are used to enroll, configure, and unenroll SEMM on a Surface device. These packages contain a configuration file where the settings for UEFI are specified. SEMM packages also contain a certificate that is installed and stored in firmware and used to verify the signature of configuration files before UEFI settings are applied.

Figure 1. Microsoft Surface UEFI Configurator

Note

Windows 10 is required to run Microsoft Surface UEFI Configurator

You can use the Microsoft Surface UEFI Configurator tool in three modes:

Surface UEFI Configuration Package. Use this mode to create a Surface UEFI configuration package to enroll a Surface device in SEMM and to configure UEFI settings on enrolled devices.

Surface UEFI Recovery Request. Use this mode to respond to a recovery request to unenroll a Surface device from SEMM where a Reset Package operation is not successful.

Download Microsoft Surface UEFI Configurator

You can download Microsoft Surface UEFI Configurator from the Surface Tools for IT page in the Microsoft Download Center.

Configuration package

Surface UEFI configuration packages are the primary mechanism to implement and manage SEMM on Surface devices. These packages contain a configuration file of UEFI settings specified during creation of the package in Microsoft Surface UEFI Configurator and a certificate file, as shown in Figure 2. When a configuration package is run for the first time on a Surface device that is not already enrolled in SEMM, it provisions the certificate file in the device’s firmware and enrolls the device in SEMM. When enrolling a device in SEMM, you will be prompted to confirm the operation by providing the last two digits of the SEMM certificate thumbprint before the certificate file is stored and the enrollment can complete. This confirmation requires that a user be present at the device at the time of enrollment to perform the confirmation.

Note

You can also specify a UEFI password with SEMM that is required to view the Security, Devices, Boot Configuration, or Enterprise Management pages of Surface UEFI.

After a device is enrolled in SEMM, the configuration file is read and the settings specified in the file are applied to UEFI. When you run a configuration package on a device that is already enrolled in SEMM, the signature of the configuration file is checked against the certificate that is stored in the device firmware. If the signature does not match, no changes are applied to the device.

You can use Surface UEFI settings to enable or disable the operation of individual components, such as cameras, wireless communication, or docking USB port (as shown in Figure 3), and configure advanced settings (as shown in Figure 4).

Figure 3. Enable or disable devices in Surface UEFI with SEMM

Figure 4. Configure advanced settings with SEMM

You can enable or disable the following devices with SEMM:

Docking USB Port

On-board Audio

Type Cover

Micro SD or SD Card Slots

Front Camera

Rear Camera

Infrared Camera, for Windows Hello

Bluetooth Only

Wi-Fi and Bluetooth

Trusted Platform Module (TPM)

You can configure the following advanced settings with SEMM:

IPv6 support for PXE boot

Alternate boot order, where the Volume Down button and Power button can be pressed together during boot, to boot directly to a USB or Ethernet device

Lock the boot order to prevent changes

Support for booting to USB devices

Display of the Surface UEFI Security page

Display of the Surface UEFI Devices page

Display of the Surface UEFI Boot page

Note

When you create a SEMM configuration package, two characters are shown on the Successful page, as shown in Figure 5.

Figure 5. Display of the last two characters of the certificate thumbprint on the Successful page

These characters are the last two characters of the certificate thumbprint and should be written down or recorded. The characters are required to confirm enrollment in SEMM on a Surface device, as shown in Figure 6.

Note

Administrators with access to the certificate file (.pfx) can read the thumbprint at any time by opening the .pfx file in CertMgr. To view the thumbprint with CertMgr, follow this process:

Right-click the .pfx file, and then click Open.

Expand the folder in the navigation pane.

Click Certificates.

Right-click your certificate in the main pane, and then click Open.

Click the Details tab.

All or Properties Only must be selected in the Show drop-down menu.

Select the field Thumbprint.

To enroll a Surface device in SEMM or to apply the UEFI configuration from a configuration package, all you need to do is run the .msi file on the intended Surface device. You can use application deployment or operating system deployment technologies such as System Center Configuration Manager or the Microsoft Deployment Toolkit. When you enroll a device in SEMM you must be present to confirm the enrollment on the device. User interaction is not required when you apply a configuration to devices that are already enrolled in SEMM.

Reset package

A Surface UEFI reset package is used to perform only one task — to unenroll a Surface device from SEMM. The reset package contains signed instructions to remove the SEMM certificate from the device’s firmware and to reset UEFI settings to factory default. Like a Surface UEFI configuration package, a reset package must be signed with the same SEMM certificate that is provisioned on the Surface device. When you create a SEMM reset package, you are required to supply the serial number of the Surface device you intend to reset. SEMM reset packages are not universal and are specific to one device.

Recovery request

In some scenarios, it may be impossible to use a Surface UEFI reset package. (For example, if Windows becomes unusable on the Surface device.) In these scenarios you can unenroll the Surface device from SEMM through the Enterprise Management page of Surface UEFI (shown in Figure 7) with a Recovery Request operation.

When you use the process on the Enterprise Management page to reset SEMM on a Surface device, you are provided with a Reset Request. This Reset Request can be saved as a file to a USB drive, copied as text, or read as a QR Code with a mobile device to be easily emailed or messaged. Use the Microsoft Surface UEFI Configurator Reset Request option to load a Reset Request file or enter the Reset Request text or QR Code. Microsoft Surface UEFI Configurator will generate a verification code that can be entered on the Surface device. If you enter the code on the Surface device and click Restart, the device will be unenrolled from SEMM.

Note

Surface Enterprise Management Mode certificate requirements

Note

The SEMM certificate is required to perform any modification to SEMM or Surface UEFI settings on enrolled Surface devices. If the SEMM certificate is corrupted or lost, SEMM cannot be removed or reset. Manage your SEMM certificate accordingly with an appropriate solution for backup and recovery.

Packages created with the Microsoft Surface UEFI Configurator tool are signed with a certificate. This certificate ensures that after a device is enrolled in SEMM, only packages created with the approved certificate can be used to modify the settings of UEFI. The following settings are recommended for the SEMM certificate:

Key Algorithm – RSA

Key Length – 2048

Hash Algorithm – SHA-256

Type – SSL Server Authentication

Key Usage – Key Encipherment

Provider – Microsoft Enhanced RSA and AES Cryptographic Provider

Expiration Date – 15 Months from certificate creation

Key Export Policy – Exportable

It is also recommended that the SEMM certificate be authenticated in a two-tier public key infrastructure (PKI) architecture where the intermediate certification authority (CA) is dedicated to SEMM, enabling certificate revocation. For more information about a two-tier PKI configuration, see Test Lab Guide: Deploying an AD CS Two-Tier PKI Hierarchy.

Note

You can use the following PowerShell script to create a self-signed certificate for use in proof-of-concept scenarios.
To use this script, copy the following text into Notepad and save the file as a PowerShell script (.ps1). This script creates a certificate with a password of 12345678.

The certificate generated by this script is not recommended for production environments.

For use with SEMM and Microsoft Surface UEFI Configurator, the certificate must be exported with the private key and with password protection. Microsoft Surface UEFI Configurator will prompt you to select the SEMM certificate file (.pfx) and certificate password when it is required.

Note

For organizations that use an offline root in their PKI infrastructure, Microsoft Surface UEFI Configurator must be run in an environment connected to the root CA to authenticate the SEMM certificate. The packages generated by Microsoft Surface UEFI Configurator can be transferred as files and therefore can be transferred outside the offline network environment with removable storage, such as a USB stick.